So if you have been following my social media accounts (and why wouldn’t you be?!) since Saturday, you may have seen some themed posts (and lots of selfies) that feature various Procter & Gamble (P&G) beauty products.  Since I am part of their beauty blogger ambassador program, Beauty United, us bloggers were given the task to come up with five themed photos that celebrate winter beauty and what the holidays mean to us.

Since the holidays are all about keeping warm, moisturized, and the occasional glitz and glam (heck, who am I kidding, it’s all about glitz and glam), here are the photos I came up with for the challenge (but you all have seen them already, right ;).  You can search for more photos from my other Beauty United blogger friends under the #beautyunited and #12daysofbeauty hashtags.

All of us Beauty United gals were sent a box of goodies that included everything from nail polish to hair products, mascara, skincare, and more to try out and use to complete the challenge.  Well, lucky for you guys, P&G and I are gifting one lucky Canadian reader the same box I received so you can be covered for the holiday season.

Here’s what it includes:

1. COVERGIRL Flamed Out Shadow Pencil – Your lids will love this 2-in-1 gel shadow and eye liner with an ultra-creamy, blendable formula.
2. COVERGIRL Nail Gloss – This longwearing, high-shine formula will help you make it through a week of holiday parties without a single chip!
3.  COVERGIRL Clump Crusher mascara – Let the curves of this revolutionary macara wandhug each lash for a separated, clump-free look!
4.  Pantene Expert Collection Keratin Repair 60-second therapy Ampoule – Got a minute? Give your strands a little extra oomph with this reparative treatment.
5.  Pantene Daily Moisture Renewal Moisture Whip – Transform dry hair into silky looking hair with a dollop of our precise blend of super moisturizers
6. Herbal Essences Tousle Me Softly Tousling Hairspray: This violet-scented hairspray will leave your hair touchably soft for your mistletoe adventures.
7. Olay Total Effects Line & Dark Circle Minimizing Brush – Add a candlelit glow to your cheekbones and brighten your eye area with this silky, hydrating formula.  Beauty tip: Add a dab of this product to your cupid’s bow for a fuller-looking pout.
8. Olay Silk Whimsy Body Lotion – The must have accessory of any holiday outfit is petal-soft, hydrated skin.
9. Vidal Sassoon Pro Series Boost & Lift Hairspray –  Keep your hair as high as your holiday spirit with this voluminous formula that will outlast your festive parties.
10. Clairol free product coupon –The Colour Experts are here to help lift your mood and keep your hair colour bright through the party season.  Get multidimensional colour with Nice ‘n Easy, high gloss results with Perfect 10, healthier-looking hair colour with Natural Instincts or keep your roots in check with Root Touch-Up.
11. Satin Care Shave Gel with a Touch of Olay and Venus & Olay Sugarberry Razor Cartridge– Beat winter dryness with every smooth stroke.  These Venus and Olay combinations have moisture-rich formulas to protect skin all season long.
12. Crest 3D White Holiday Smile Survival Kit – Make your smile the perfect accessory with “must-have” kit to make your pearly whites pop.

My favourites from the bunch are the Covergirl Flamed Out Shadow Pencil in Silver Flame, Olay Total Effects Line & Dark Circle Minimizing Brush (it’s like a drugstore version of YSL’s Touche Eclat), Pantene Daily Moisture Renewal Moisture Whip (looks good enough to eat and leaves your hair silky smooth), and the Crest 3D White One-Hour Express strips (this stuff really works!).

So how can you win these winter must haves?  Enter in the Rafflecopter below!  Please note entrants must be Canadian, and contest closes on December 12, 2013 (12 days of beauty, get it?)

Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

One more thing, don’t forget to enter my Philosophy giveaway!  Canadians only!

Disclosure: I am a #BeautyUnited blogger. As part of my affiliation with this group I receive products and special access to P&G events. The opinions on this blog are my own.

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Now that it’s officially December, that means holiday parties galore.  Nothing screams holiday makeup more to me than silver and glitter.

When I saw the promo images for Make Up For Ever’s holiday collection, Midnight Glow, I just about died.  In true holiday form, the collection is filled with sparkle and shine, but since Make Up For Ever is a pro brand, sometimes their models may not sport the most wearable looks.

I received their glitter in gunmetal, which is actually the prettiest glitter I have ever seen.  The dark grey colour sparkles like no other and I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it to try out.  The model in their marketing material is wearing it on the side of her face, brushed back into her hair.  Now if I sported that look out in public, I personally feel like people would stop and stare (perhaps not in a good way), so I wanted to make this glitter look totally holiday appropriate (read: more commercial, less editorial).

I do want to say before we jump into the look, that this glitter is unlike their Holodiam powder as it’s a rougher, larger glitter, whereas the Holodiam powders are more fine-milled glitter.  I also want to mention that according to the MUFE packaging, this particular glitter is not safe for the eye area (as per FDA regulations) in the U.S. only.  I did use this around my eye area but I’m in Canada.  Make sure to set this and apply it properly so it doesn’t get into your eyes.

Let’s get started!

1. Starting with a matte brown eyeshadow, apply this to your crease area.  I used #17 from the MUFE Technicolor palette. Buck from the Urban Decay Naked palette is a good dupe.

2. With a matte black, lightly apply this to your crease.  Make sure you use a light hand to apply the colour, we don’t want it too dark.  I used #04 from the MUFE Technicolor palette, MAC’s Carbon would be a good alternative.

3. To add a little glam to the look, apply Make Up For Ever’s Aqua Cream in #3 silver to your lid area, focusing mostly from the inner corner to the middle.  Then with your crease brush, blend the black into the silver.  Maybelline’s Color Tattoo in Silver Strike would be a good dupe.

4. Now the fun part!  With a flat shader brush, spray a setting spray or wet it with water and then dip your brush into the glitter and pat this over the black in your crease. I highly recommend placing a tissue under your eyes because there will be fall out.  I used Make Up For Ever glitter in #15 gunmetal.

5. Apply a gel eyeliner to your upper lash line, slightly winging it out.

6. Working on the lower lash line, lightly dip your eyeliner brush into the black again and line your lower lash line.

7. With a flat-top shader brush, spray your brush with setting spray or water and dip it into your glitter again and lightly pat it over the black on your lower lash line.

8. Curl your lashes, apply mascara and then pop on some falsies.

9. Fill in your brows and then apply a matte white shadow to your brow bone.  I used MUFE #00 from the Technicolor palette.

10. Apply your foundation and then with a concealer, apply this under your eyes, bringing it up at an angle to clean up the area.  I used Covergirl Whipped Cream Foundation with Make Up For Ever’s 5-color Camouflage Concealer Palette.  Set everything with a powder, I used Make Up For Ever’s Pro Finish powder.

11. To finish up the look, apply a bronzer to the hollows of your cheekbones and then apply a nude-coloured blush.  I used Smashbox Suntan Matte bronzer and NARS Madly blush. For the lips, I nuded them out as well, applying Marc Jacobs Beauty Lip Gel lipstick in Strange Magic with NARS Angelika gloss over top.

And that’s the final look!  This just may be my favourite holiday look for the season because it’s so appropriate.  Pop on a glittered headband and a cute dress and you are good to go!

Let me know if you try it out!

One more thing, don’t forget to enter my Philosophy giveaway!  Canadians only!

Please note, this post contains product that were sent by PR. All opinions are my own.

Like what you read? Check out these related posts:

• The showstopper: Marc Jacobs Beauty Showstopper Set
• Bring on the glitz!
• Get glam! Glam Glow Mud Masks
• Raindrops on roses… Too Faced A Few of my Favourite Things set

I don’t know about you, but once the weather gets colder my skin starts drying up like a cactus.  I find myself moisturizing every night before bed and always have to keep a lip balm and hand cream on me at all times.

One of my favourite brands for both scent and packaging is Philosophy.  Their uber-cute products not only smell divine, but also pack some serious punch in the skincare category.

Well, lucky for us Canadians, Philosophy is spreading the love this season with their Sweet Holiday Wishes campaign.  Visit the campaign site (www.philosophy-wishes.com) to send a sweet wish to a loved one, friend, secret crush, etc., and in return, you – yes, you! – will receive a voucher for a free 30ml bottle of the award-winning (and my personal fave – I use this every night with my Clarisonic Mia) Purity Made Simple Skin Cleanser.

This campaign is on until December 8th, but hurry hard because there are only around 600 or so bottles left.  The good news is that if you secured your spot for a cleanser and they run out, then everyone gets upgraded to a 90ml bottle. Woohoo!

Once December 9th hits, those who sent sweet wishes will receive an email with a personal voucher to pick up their free gift at select Philosophy Hudson’s Bay counters across Canada from December 9th to 19th.

Now because I’m in the giving spirit, and plus it’s my holiday season (yay Hanukkah!), I’ll be gifting one lucky Canadian reader a Philosophy gift pack valued at $101, which includes The Holiday Handbook (C$26) set of three hand creams, Sweet Cream Frosting body lotion (C$21), The Cookie Exchange gift pack (Christmas Cookie shampoo, shower gel & bubble bath, Sugar Sprinkles lip gloss, and Sweet Cream Frosting body lotion, C$33) and the Cherry Pinwheel Cookie shampoo, shower gel, and bubble bath (C$21).  All products are available at Hudson’s Bay.

Enter in the Rafflecopter below for your chance to win.  Entrants must be Canadian; giveaway closes on December 9th.  Good luck and happy holidays!

a Rafflecopter giveaway